Coupons are a useful marketing tool to enhance brand loyalty and introduce new products. By allowing customization of the effective duration and value of an offer, a coupon provides a flexible incentive for a consumer to purchase a particular product or line of products.
Conventionally, coupons have been available in printed form from sources such as newspapers. Increased adoption of electronic sources of information such as the world-wide-web, however, has led to the increase in popularity of electronic coupons.
In addition, most consumers now own and operate a cell phone or other portable electronic device. This renders such consumers accessible to the distribution of electronic coupons as they do their shopping, and moreover allows such distributed electronic coupons to be redeemed directly at the store location.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for methods and systems allowing for the distribution and use of electronic coupons by mobile electronic devices.